Variation in persuasive financial discourse: face-to-face vs. teleconference earnings presentations

Recent vicissitudes in the financial world have reinforced the need for companies to operate transparently and to project a positive corporate image. During financial earnings presentations, this remains a top priority for executives who must persuade investors of the soundness and worth of their companies. Taking inspiration from Aristotle’s notions of logos (appeals to rationality) and ethos (appeals to credibility), the study investigates how executives use logical connectives and hyperbole to achieve their goals. These features are analyzed in two corpora of financial earnings presentations given in different interactional settings: face-to-face and via telephone, i.e. conference calls through a teleconferencing service. The methodological approach encompasses both quantitative techniques of corpus linguistics and follow-up qualitative analysis to better interpret the empirical data. In addition, the findings are further illuminated by insights from professional informants who regularly participate in such events. The results indicate that both logical connectives and hyperbolic adjectives/adverbs are used extensively by executives to steer investors towards interpretations that emphasize the positive aspects of performance, while minimizing negative results. The findings of this study can be applied to the development of training courses for business professionals and students that more closely mirror today’s corporate world.